Page 148 (1/2)

Arifureta Chapter 146

Thank God, She is a Pervert As Expected

?Even though you actually noticed

Those words had been whispered into Suzu’s ear since she first entered the great labyrinth And right now, those words were thrown at her from her reddish-black eyed self whose entire body color hite

Each tily as though it was cothese facts for Suzu was the sae of Suzu which was created froative emotion thrust the truth at her

The voice referred to how Suzu had faintly noticed Eri’s true nature

If others were asked about their impression toward Nakamura Eri, ten of ten would surely answer like this:

She is irl that is able to take a step back and observe the whole objectively Usually, she refrains fro, but she is someone prudent that can say out her opinion with skillful consideration when it counts and that can nonchalantly give help Her figure following behind with a smile is like a Yamato Nadeshiko

There was also various other opinions, but in general, people harbored an iood-willed personality Kouki and company were also similar Even Shizuku with her sharp observations had almost the exact same impression For that reason, that day, when Eri exposed her true nature, Shizuku was also greatly shocked

Ahtly different ihtly calculating girl She understood her best friend’s conceit the best, because she was always looking at her frouchi Suzu was special She was sensitive toward the subtleties of hu eyes, sometimes, there was coldness and sharpness that resided there And then she noticed how Eri was usually a step behind Rather than calling that so that caic It was more convenient to collect information assertively in that position, Suzu so too

But she had never pointed that out to Eri herself Suzu didn’t think that such a behavior was unpleasant If she was asked why, it was because when Eri gathered inforenerally, she was doing it for the sake of someone else

And then, even at this tiuessed that the way Eri did a thing, her speech and her conduct were for the sake of protecting her owna part for the sake of protecting one’s own heart and body If asked why, it was because it would be like rejecting herself

What was theof that? To understand that, there is a need to know about Suzu’s early life

Both of Suzu’s parents orkaholics right to their core Fro, it was only work, work, work… Since her childhood, it was as though Suzu was raised by the employed caretaker Both her parents didn’t even attend the custom events like visitation day or child and parent day

Her family was quite prosperous, but after her caretaker went home, Suzu was always left alone inside the spacious house If a young child was left alone for a long tilooarten and the early elerades, she was a moody child without any friends

It wasn’t like she wasn’t loved by her parents or anything They carefully considered anything that they gifted Suzu Suzu also knew that when they went hoht, they secretly came to look at Suzu’s condition and stroke her head

But, for the young Suzu, all that was not enough at all… that ith the sulking feeling she was cold toward her parents when she occasionally met them, she took an attitude that wasn’t cute at all; she pretended to sleep when she was actually awake…

For such a Suzu to turn out like the current cheerfully siirl was solely thanks to the influence of her caretaker A few years passed since she was e Suzu, so the large-bodied caretaker auntie gave advice to Suzu

That advice was, ‘Anyway, just laugh’, truly advice that was overfloith vagueness ‘With that your surrounding will change’, she said Those were the words of the caretaker that even noas still working in Suzu’s house, who for Suzu was like another mother already For Suzu of that time, she didn’t understand what the caretakerthat she wouldn’t be lonely then she thought there was no har it

First, she tried to show upfront happiness towards her parents She sot her head stroked, and when she received present, she expressed happiness with her all Actually, there was still lurking feelings in her heart, but she tried to co it Thereupon the faces of Suzu’s parents turned ‘dere’, it was a face so slovenly that Suzu had never seen it at all until that time

They are still constantly busy with their ithout any change, but even so, each ti happily Those s that made Suzu happy

Next, she also s that was really fun or anything there, even so, she constantly floated a wide smile

Thereupon, before she realized it there was always sos Someone would always talk joyfully with a smile at Suzu When she saw that, her school life until now beca fun

With that, Suzu understood Even if she was sad or pained, if she made a smile, it would attract other smiles With that, she wouldn’t be alone anyain, Suzu would smile without end no matter what kind of time it was Yes, noface wasn’t so that always came from her heart Rather, about half of her s that her true smile and the fake smile became the same and couldn’t be differentiated from each other

That hile Suzu noticed the calculating personality of Eri that put on the mask of Yamato Nadeshiko to protect her body and heart just like Suzu, she didn’t think of that as unpleasant Rather she felt sympathy to Eri After she noticed, she associated with her even deeper

She thought that what Eri did was the saht that Eri felt syht that even though it was true that Eri was calculating for the sake of herself, that they were really friends, even best friends And then, she also thought that toward someone who didn’t have the intention to harood will towards them

No, perhaps it should be said that she wanted to believe it to be so

She left alone the unease that was bloating in her since they arrived in this world She didn’t try to notice the thing that should be noticed She gave up putting the effort because she feared to step into the calculating heart of Eri, who had taken off her s mask She feared that the pleasant relationship they had until noould end and that Eri’s malice that Suzu perhaps had faintly realized would be shoved into her face

That hy she believed She believed blindly She stuffed the unease she held, the anxiety she felt, into the bottom of her chest She convinced herself that there was noaspect was always for the sake of her best friend Suzu and for Kouki and the others ere her coedy of that day occurred Two of Suzu’s class Meld-san died if Nagumo-kun and others weren’t there, then Kaori would have also died Even though it was only Suzu who since co in this world had faintly noticed Eri’s character and could stop the tragedy of that day, Suzu averted her eyes from reality because Suzu treasured herself Suzu sealed everything so deep in the bottom of her heart that she didn’t even realize it herself Pasting a smile on the face, just like usual…}

"…"

The darkness in Suzu’s heart That was a fierce guilt Even though it was only her who could stop Eri’s cri the reality that Eri would do anything bad As a result, a lot of people died, and her classmates were also almost annihilated

If she just nonchalantly consulted with Shizuku, perhaps so that had been whirling fiercely in Suzu’s heart since that day

{While declaring that Suzu is her best friend, Suzu didn’t notice the distortion of her heart If it was Suzu, if it was Suzu who had been together with Eri longer than anyone She should have been able to notice it, yet… by stepping into her heart, perhaps it would also exposed the fakeness of Suzu’s own s the words ‘best friend’ fro}

"…"

{Do you think that everything would be fine if you just put on a sh it was just a widely thin relation where your hearts didn’t connect with each other, did you think that you are actually not alone? Just like Eri said, what open stupidity, isn’t it?}

Suzu wordlessly swept her iron fan Dozens of barriers that she deployed cut through the wind and rushed the false iic power exploded inside the containrenade striking the white Suzu

The surrounding ground was bloay, ice fragly, and perhaps it was only expected, the false i barrier while she was unfolding her white iron fan, hiding half her face

Since the battle started, this develop Suzu’s attack couldn’t break through the white Suzu’s protection no e that hardened her defense mercilessly tore apart Suzu with blades of words one-sidedly

{What are you going to do after h you actually don’t knohat you want to say when you et hostility and scorn directed at you without question anyway}

Not only the past, the white Suzu also turned theat Suzu

Not doing what she should do… averting her eyes froto step into that distortion even while calling herself the best friend, although her feeling of wanting to meet was true, actually, she still didn’t knohat she wanted to do when she actually h she andering inside a thick , it was torn apart, bleeding fro its li this h at first you turned weak froh you just denied it, if you only averted your eyes, Suzu can get stronger…}

"As Suzu thought, there is really that kind of rule If that’s the case, then no er"

{It looks like it In the ain determination little by little Suzu’s words, on the contrary, beca the white Suzu that was shaking her head as though to say ‘good grief’, Suzu was breathing hard, her hands that were grasping her iron fans were trenified tone

"… Yes Even though it’s about Suzu herself, but theBut, what you are saying is all true? That’s why it’s fine already It’s enough already standing still for the sake of Suzu herself In the first place, since Suzu saw the dream at Haltina’s Great Labyrinth, Suzu had come to understand just how much Suzu averted her eyes from what is important"

{… What a convenient dreahed That wasn’t a fake laugh, it was a laugh filled with bitterness and pain that caet it That world of dreams Only if Suzu properly accepted reality"

Suzu talked to herself with calh’, she didn’t mean that it’s fine if Suzu just smiles That’s not all, what Taeko-san meant is to open your own heart first if you want to connect with other people’s hearts Right now, Suzu understands"

If you wanted to make others happy, first you yourself had to be happy Surely, there were a lot of people who had heard those words This was the same as that

"It’s just as you said, honestly, Suzu also doesn’t understand what she wants to do by ize for averting Suzu’s eyes, or to persuade her back… Suzu doesn’t know"

Suzu’s heart since that day, that day when it received that painful betrayal was disordered in pieces Various e like a river after a heavy rain It wasso that it didn’t flood over Surely, the dam of Suzu’s heart would break the first time she confronted Eri and would scream

That hy…

"Suzu doesn’t understand, but Suzu knows that Suzu has to htliness just like at Haltina’s Great Labyrinth That was conveyed i a little again Looks like your resolve is the real thing}

"That’s right This is not just words any just a sweet dreao ahead on this path! ‘Gather and return?Divine Severance–Turn’!"

Suzu proclai her pair of iron fans widely

Right after, white Suzu’s surrounding shone brilliantly, the barrier was created as though in reverse regeneration

‘Divine Severance–Turn’?By using regeneration ic power of a barrier that had been smashed and dispersed once to create a barrier once more

The Suzu’s barriers that had been smashed until now had reached several hundred The barriers of the white Suzu had also been senerated and manifested for the sake of barrier burst The total number of barriers were a hundred and fifty layers Those barriers surrounded white Suzu like a castle wall

{Is that is so… if it’s insufficient with just your own, you even regenerate the barrier that Suzu senerate it In exchange, all of Suzu’s ic power is dried away but… you are defeated!"

{Then try it Use that power that is changed into the resolve to surpass everything!}

The barrier of the white Suzu shined It was a challenge to just try it if she thought she could break it

Suzu swept her iron fans powerfully All the barrier was made to have directionality, and the spell coht after that, the spacious roo

Even the caster Suzu was bloay by the great explosion and slid until the wall And then her consciousness skipped when her back fiercely struck the ice wall The cause was because she poured everything into the explosive power, even the little bit of her ic power that should be for defense

She couldn’t hear anything except ringing in her ears Perhaps her eardrued to hold back her hazy consciousness She directed her gaze at ground zero while fixing her shaking eyesight, soe crater created there… there was nothing

At the saht side suddenlyat that, Suzu discerned that she finally overca to the daic power consumption

(… It’s okay to rest, isn’t it… just for a little)

Suzu whispered so inside her heart, then her consciousness was dragged into darkness

It felt like drifting in the bottoloohtly awakened

It felt like her body was shaking in a certain rhythht it was like she was in a cradle However, heavy sounds and the war her coe person and their body warmth The instant she comprehended that Suzu’s consciousness rapidly rose to the surface

"E, eh? What? How…?"

"Yoo, Suzu You woke up?"

"Hee? Ryuutaro-kun?"

"Yeah, it’s ht fluttered and her body stiffened, but she somehow understood that she was carried on Ryuutaro’s back and her body relaxed

"Err, why is Ryuutaro-kun carrying Suzu on your back?"

"You see After sending the irritating bastard flying away and passing through the path that appeared, I saw Suzu sleeping like a log at the corner of a si, let’s just carry you You didn’t wake up even when I shook you, yeah as expected, there was also no way I could wake you up restling moves, too"

"Yes, if you tried to wake up Suzu like that then it will be waking up to Barrier Burst for you"

For athat if it was Ryuutaro, then he h in the end, he was able to be considerate towards the feht that with a relieved sigh Previously he was a guy that would hit the back or shoulder of another hard while laughing heartily without caring of the other party’s sex

"But, so that’s how it is So that trial room is connected with everyone else then"

"Looks like it I think ahead of this path will be the rooreat if it’s Kaori or Tio-san Suzu is still not healed here… wait, Ryuutaro-kun is so Suzu"

Suzu expressed her gratitude brightly while settling on Ryuutaro’s large back Now that she looked, Ryuutaro’s clothes were also looking quite ragged after winning a really hard fight There was no stutter on his footsteps that edly, but he looked like he received quite the da deal It’s only about five of ot dislocated andat the level that you can just write off as ‘that’s all’!"

"No, no, I fixed my shoulder already I also reinforced ebohaa!?"

"Hiiiii!! Ryuutaro-kun is vo out an impossible amount of blood!?"

In front of the panicked Suzu who heard Ryuutaro’s unsubstantiated assertion, Ryuutaro as about to say that he was fine becaans were also considerably daot down fro ic, so it was only a basic ic she learned for a critical tiht wrapped Ryuutaro as h he hadn’t just voh because Suzu used a siic circle that could be carried around, but it was possible to stop bleeding and pain and heal the little wound with that

"Ah? It feels a little more comfortable somehow? Thanks, Suzu"

"… Listen here, Ryuutaro-kun Why are you that cal blood in buckets like that? Actually, you are not a human, are you? You are an idiot, aren’t you?"

"That’s cruel, eh What, if it’s just this much then you can make it somehoith your spirit"

"… Spirit… what a convenient word"

Suzu finished the treatment with a tired look While she was at it, she also treated the ree on her body core due to the explosive i for the peace of mind, she wanted to find Kaori or Tio quickly

"Well, I also only just cleared the trial favorably, so I also got a little high tensioned here"

"Aa, certainly there is that It’s not like the ti here… indeed, it feels joyful"

"Right?"

"Now that you mentioned it, how did Ryuutaro-kun do? You don’t look like you have any worry or anything but… ah, it’s fine if it’s so hard to say, you know?"

Suzu nonchalantly said so cruel like "You are muscle brain, so there is no point even if you are abused verbally, right?" In a certain , it seemed that she had put down a mask of hers

On the other hand, Ryuutaro that was naturally disparaged didn’t look like he particularly minded it, rather he didn’t even notice it and answered indifferently

"No, it’s not anything big, so I don’t iven insults that I’ those words Ryuutaro was a er in front of hi of calling hiine it

Looking at Suzu as like that, Ryuutaro scratched his cheek a little e his eyes, before he dropped a boo, I don’t knohat to do to approach the woman I fell in love with yeah I didn’t even confess, on top of that she was taken co like that"